What is Fire Cupping Therapy?

Fire Cupping is method that involves fire being inserted into a glass cup to burn up all the oxygen so that when the cup is placed on the skin, it creates suction. This is like an inverted massage! Cupping is great to help reduce inflammation, break up scar tissue and adhesions, relieve tension, improve blood and lymph circulation.

Here in North America, it has become wildly popular in recent years thanks to a number of celebrities and athletes proudly displaying their “cupping marks” in public and the fact that it WORKS!

Cupping commonly leaves slight “bruising” on the skin that dissipates within a week. Depending on what color marks are left, it can say a lot about what it going on in that area of your body. In this treatment, cupping will be done first and then acupuncture will be administered according to what the cupping indicates.

Cupping can be done on the arms, shoulders, neck, back, legs, calves and sometimes even on the abdomen. If there is a specific injury that is being treated, sliding cupping will be done as well. Lotion will be applied to the area and the cups will be moved around to help improve circulation and relieve tension. The cups are generally left in place for between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on the area being worked on.

Often, cupping works along acupuncture meridians and frequently incorporate acupuncture with cupping therapy during the same treatment session to get the compounding benefits that come from stacking certain techniques on top of one another.

All of the benefits of Acupuncture, plus those of Fire Cupping!

Sometimes the cups are moved (or glided) along the meridian being worked on, which is often referred to as massage cupping therapy.